Bond Classic
Scooters

Introduction

With his Minicar project now turned
over to Sharp's Commercials, Lawrence, "Lawrie"
Bond turned his attention to the design and
manufacture of a series of small lightweight
motorcycles and scooters. The first of these
was launched at the Motorcycle show in September
1949 in the form of the Bond Minibyke. This
was a rather unconventional machine utilising
mainly aluminium construction, with it's frame
formed of a central tapered oval tube which
housed the fuel tank.

Initially one model was offered, powered by a
98cc Villiers Mk1F engine and on early models,
the front wheel was supported by rigid tubes which
formed the steering forks. Rear suspension was
also non-existent, relying on cushioning from
the large low-pressure tyres, but telescopic dampers
were fitted at the front by 1950 due to persistent
failure of the early front forks! The venture
was at least partially successful and a De-Luxe
version was soon introduced powered by a 125 cc
JAP engine and in November 1950 the design and
manufacturing rights were sold to Ellis Ltd of
Leeds who continued production until 1953, though
total production was only in the region of 750.

Lawrie Bond now abbreviated the
name of his company to BAC (Bond Aircraft and
engineering Company) and began work on a new
motorcycle the Lilliput. Launched in February
1951 it was indeed a small machine, though of
more conventional appearance and once again
powered by the 98cc Villiers Mk1F engine, with
a De-Luxe version powered by a 125 cc JAP engine.
Production was short lived and the De-Luxe model
was discontinued in late 1951 due to problems
with the supply of the engine and the Lilliput
ceased production in October 1952 with only
some 200 machines built overall. In the meantime
Lawrie had already been developing his next
project -a scooter type machine called the Gazelle,
which was launched at the Motorcycle show in
November 1951. The new machine was the only
all-British scooter on display and was powered
by a 122 cc Villiers Mk10D engine, with a fairly
conventional scooter layout. Suspension was
predictably basic with telescopic front forks,
but only the cushioning from the wide low pressure
tyre at the rear, though it was reasonably priced
at £99. In October 1952 a 98 cc version
was introduced and a lightweight sidecar offered
for the larger engined model.

Once again production was short-lived
and in late 1952 the project was sold to a Blackburn
based company - Projects and Developments Ltd.
The new owners set about developing the machine
into an exceptionally quiet 197 cc Villiers
engined machine with electric starting and greatly
improved suspension, named the Oscar. This was
exhibited at the 1953 Motorcycle show, but despite
much interest the project was dropped. Lawrie
Bond's final two-wheeled offering was announced
in November 1955 - the Sherpa, illustrated right.
It featured swinging arm front suspension and
trailing arm at the rear, with power predictably
provided by a 98 cc Villiers engine. Once again
lightweight construction was utilised, this
time with glassfibre bodywork. But despite initial
interest, orders failed to materialise and the
project was abandoned, with only the single
prototype believed to have been built.

By the late 1950s Sharps commercials
also decided to enter the two-wheeled market
with their "All-British" offering, announced
in early 1958. Intended to compete with the
increase in foreign imported machines, the company
invested heavily in the project. The initial
model was the P1, illustrated left, which was
powered by a 148 cc Villiers Mk 31C engine and
featured glassfibre bodywork and single leading
arm front suspension, single trailing arm at
the rear, both coil sprung with hydraulic dampers.
Standard fitting of a SIBA Dynastart unit gave
electric starting and a 12v electric system.
Competitively priced, the P1 received favourable
reports in the press & was soon joined by
a similar looking 197 cc Villiers Mk9E engined
sister the P2, but sales were slow. Both models
continued in production until superceded in
late 1959 by two improved models - the P3 and
P4 . The new models were powered as their predecessors,
but featured improved engine access, a redesigned
frame, but most noticeably a redesigned front
apron with a now fixed front mudguard. Still
sales remained low despite vigorous advertising,
including entries in the 1958, 59 and 1960 Isle-of
-Man rallies with limited success. But the anticipated
popularity of the Bond Scooter failed to materialise
and with profits already cut back to keep the
price competitive, Sharp's were left with no
room to manoeuvre and had little option but
to abandon production altogether in 1962.